For the past three months we’ve examined this question from the perspective of blockages or resistance to the natural flow of life energies in terms of the necessary conditions for manifesting that allow and/or promote manifesting what you want in your life, and the techniques of manifesting. I received several comments on these articles and a couple of really good questions.

One of these questions reminded me of a client I worked with several years ago who was having major problems in trying to manifest a relationship in her life. She seemed to understand most of the techniques of manifesting, but was really having difficulty with of the conditions for manifesting—one that I hadn’t thought about until working with this client, and one that I forgot to include in Part I of this series.

Another “Necessary Condition”

As I in stated in previous articles, manifesting, like any other area of life, requires that you take responsibility for creating your life. However, this particular client was not only trying too hard (not allowing her energy to flow naturally, without effort), she was also assuming that she should be able to manifest anything (and everything!) for other people through her own efforts. That is a resounding “NO! NO! ” on the spiritual path. She just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t manifest the relationship she wanted with a particular man (who wasn’t interested in her attention). But just as it was incumbent on her to take responsibility for her life, the same holds true for everyone else in her life as well. Trying to control the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of other people violates the principle of free will for every soul.

We do not have the right to try control other people and cannot expect their decisions to correspond to or comply with our own desires. Thus, a necessary condition for manifesting anything in your life is that it is not dependent upon anyone else’s decisions. This is always true for relationships whether they involve a love interest, a friend, a coworker, a supervisor, a spouse, or even a parent. The only exception to this rule I can think of is the case of a parent’s decisions for a child who is not yet mature enough or capable of making a particular decision on their own—and sometimes there are even exceptions to that (for example, a child’s preference to stay with one parent versus the other when the parents have decided to end their marriage). Trying to manifest the decisions of other people is nothing more than attempted manipulation. It rarely works, and even then generally only in the short run. The only thing we ever control is our own reactions to what happens in our lives. That is quite enough for each of us, and most people never really manage to do that consistently or successfully. Welcome to the spiritual path!

So can you manifest a relationship? Absolutely! Can you manifest that specific relationship? Perhaps, but that isn’t totally up to you. Can you manifest a promotion? Of course! Can you manifest that specific promotion with that specific supervisor? Maybe. Can you manifest more cooperation from coworkers? You can certainly try, but that particular coworker certainly has her/his own ideas about that. Can you manifest your parents’ permission? It might be nice, but not absolutely necessary—unless you don’t really want to be the master of your own life. Just focus your manifesting efforts on what you can control and let it go. Yes, you can desire someone else’s decision and work toward that. They may or may not decide to agree with you, but you cannot manifest their decision. And if you end up being either disappointed or devastated by their decision, it really wasn’t up to you after all. In fact, the Universe may have other (even better) plans for you—if you get your ego out of the way and let it go.

Feeling it Real vs. Keeping it Real

Most of the questions I was asked this past month had to do with Neville Goddard’s “Feel It Real” technique. Specifically, “Feeling It Real” just doesn’t seem “honest”—more like an intentional fraud to some readers. I can understand where they are coming from, but I really believe they are missing the point as well as the reason for it. This has become especially prominent in contemporary culture as when pop entertainers bombard us with phrases like “tell it like it is”, “keep it real”, etc. As I noted in previous articles, the necessary conditions are essential, but these have to be followed by the right kind of effort or else little (or nothing) happens.

So what’s wrong with “keeping it real”? Absolutely nothing—as long as “it” (the “real”) is positive. Remember, your thoughts create your reality—and quantum physics proves it! Yes, it is important to recognize the negative things in your life, but only for the purpose of clarifying what you don’t want. As I wrote about last month in Part III of this series, focus on what you do want. Recognize what you don’t want, but then turn your attention and manifesting efforts toward what do you want—because your thoughts really do create your reality. And what makes your thoughts about what you want (which is, obviously, what you don’t have yet) have any creative power at all? Very simple: You believe that they are not only possible, but also probable. (Again, quantum physics explains this very nicely).

• “Everything is energy, and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics. ” ~ Albert Einstein (1879-1955; German born American physicist, 1921 Physics Nobel Prize)

Don’t get me wrong. Honesty (keeping it real) can be very positive—but not when it comes in the form of complaining about what you don’t want. This only helps to create more of the same. This kind of “honesty” so easily keeps us locked in the negativity that is prevalent in most people’s lives (mass consciousness) on the earth plane.

But honesty and feeling it real are not mutually exclusive. It is entirely possible to be honest about the feelings we have around the “good things” we have in life. This is called “appreciation”, and it plays a very important role in successful spirituality—“Conscious Living” as I call it (see my article, “Be Appreciative, Not Just Grateful”). But “keeping it real” (usually negative honesty) counteracts the positive thoughts that are the major tool we have for manifesting. In contrast, “feeling it real” is, by definition, focused on positive emotions and serves to counteract the negative thoughts so often characteristic of “keeping it real”. “Feeling it real” only enhances your ability to manifest what you want. But it’s a choice, and it can only be your choice. Welcome to the spiritual path!

Here’s the issue:

• “Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, play no jokes, and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought or image. What we continually think about eventually will manifest in our lives. ” ~ Robert Collier (1885-1950; American author of self-help & New Thought metaphysical books; in: Tracy Friesen, Ride the Waves: How to Take Control of Your Life One Emotion at a Time)

If you are worried about being honest (keeping it real), you are only doing so for one or both of two reasons: either you are concerned about what other people will think (conditioning) or “dishonesty” is somehow “wrong” on the spiritual path (conditioning). Conditioning for any reason is simply “trapped energy” that ultimately prevents you from raising your vibration. But isn’t raising your vibration ultimately the whole point of the spiritual path? It is only your subconscious mind (conditioning) and the Self that benefits from such thinking. Even your own guides and guardian spirit will lie to you if it is in the interest of your Higher Self. That almost always means you have a lesson to learn (oh, boy—one of those “necessary conditions” again!). Think about it. What is in your best (Higher Self) interest? Is it better to “feel it real” or to “tell it like it is”? It is your choice, and only you can make it.

I want to thank my readers for your questions and comments; keep those cards and letters coming (OK, those emails and Instant Messenger communications on Facebook—it is the 21st century after all!). I hope my comments help you as much as they help me to refine and better communicate my own understanding. So again, be patient! Good Luck, and Happy Manifesting!